View full size Lillian Shupe Feeding deer can be bad for the wild animals and someone's pocketbook, some towns have banned the practice.
Bans on feeding wildlife usually originate in New Jersey neighborhoods divided over the practice and spill over to regulations.
As more communities consider the bans, proponents say they are the right move.
Those who feed wildlife may not realize it that they can literally kill animals with kindness. The practice can also also upset the ecosystem, lead to property damage, hurt local farmers and possibly result in fines.
Carole Stanko is a supervising biologist in the state Division of Fish and Wildlife deer program. She said, "There is absolutely no reason to feed deer at any time of the year."
She has a long list of reasons why it's a bad idea, starting with the increased risk of harm to deer fed by humans. She starts with changing a herd's behavioral pattern, tempting deer to start crossing roadways they normally wouldn't for food and heightening the risk of colliding with vehicles.
An easy source of food, said Stanko, will concentrate a population in "abnormally high numbers," leading to "nose-to-nose contact and the spread of saliva." That readily spreads disease.
Close contact also offers parasites more hosts and helps spread problems such as mange.
And when animals jostle for food, the smallest or weakest members may lose out on any of it.
But what's most dangerous is what happens once a deer ingests food offered by humans. "Deer, like most ruminants, have microorganisms to help them digest their food," said Stanko.
"These microorganisms change with the the seasons. In winter, if you feed them abnormally high amounts" of an out-of-season source, such as carbohydrates, "you may kill them."
Unable to digest the food properly, Stanko said such animals "go off into the woods and suffer a slow, painful death."
The Senate in 2011 approved a bill (S2649) that would have set in place a statewide ban on the feeding of wildlife, except for birds or by hunters at bait stations during hunting season. The plan didn't gain traction in the Assembly.
New Jersey Farm Bureau supported the final version of the Senate bill, said Bureau research associate Ed Wengryn.
Even within the farming community — where too-high deer populations destroy crops and therefore impact livelihoods — there was debate. That's because some people buy "drop" apples or corn from local farmers to feed deer in their backyards.
Such farmers "know they would be losing that market, but if it stops the . . . problem they're willing to bite the bullet" and support a ban, said Wengryn.
In the long run, the farmers could come out ahead. "When you feed deer, they supplement that supply with your shrubs and trees and the farmers' soybeans, corn . . . " said Wengryn.
Said Stanko, "Or your neighbor's shrubs and flowers and our natural habitat. Deer destroy our natural surroundings when you concentrate them," a problem that interferes with the ecosystem and re-forestation.
Wengryn said that marauding deer, not squirrels, may be the culprits behind rapidly emptied birdfeeders. "If a deer can get up on its hind legs and the get the seed out of a platform feeder, it will. It's good nutrition."
Which leads to another point, by Stanko and Wengryn: increased nutrition causes deer to start reproducing at a younger age in in higher numbers than deer living in forested habitats.
Fish and Wildlife has an online article on feeding deer in winter. In it, it reminds New Jersey residents that deer "are wild animals and have adapted" physiologically "as well as behaviorally" to the changing seasons, including winter's "deep snow, cold temperatures and high winds."
That usually includes decreased metabolism in winter and conserving energy by feeding during the "warmer daylight hours" and bedding down for longer periods. . . "without harmful effects." It "strongly discourages" feeding most wildlife.
The issue was first debated for months. Some felt it too restrictive and open to abuse. On the other side were people who felt that feeding wildlife creates a significant public health issue. Offenders in Cranford could face fines or community service.
Last year Lebanon Township adopted a similar measure, but it only applies to web-footed birds, another species that can damage farm crops.
Then-Deputy Mayor Patricia Schriver said at the time that many professionals support feeding bans and say that it is more harmful to feed the birds than to not. “They can’t all be wrong,” she said. For instance, Trout Unlimited and the South Branch Watershed Association supported the ban.
In Hunterdon County, the feeding of wildlife on county land is prohibited, said supervising ranger Craig Evans on Sept. 21, except when baiting for hunting purposes.
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The county took this step many years ago, said Evans, because of the detrimental effects on animals and knowing that there is ample natural food in this area.
Anyone caught could receive a summons. But Evans said it's not a problem in county parks. Occasionally, "you may see a family by the river throwing bread to the ducks," he said and that's about it.
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